New York Divorce Blog

Why Women's Financial Needs are Different

Posted By Lois Brenner || 18-Aug-2014

There are over 10 million female-owned businesses in America. These companies
are generating more than $2.5 trillion dollars. Now more than ever, women
need to take control of their finances.

Women are more financially successful than ever before!

But even with all this success women are still leaving their financial
futures in the hands of men or ignoring it altogether. This needs to stop.

Women’s financial needs are actually different from that of men.
Women face unique challenges that men don’t. For example:

1.) women live longer than men. on average 7 years longer so they need
20% more retirement income;

2.) women earn about 25% less than men;

3.) since women are still the primary caretakers for children, more women
than men take time off to raise kids as well as care for aging parents,
which results in lower total earnings, reduced Social Security benefits
and less savings.

4.) because of motherhood, women save less money than men;

5.) women are more conservative in their investments;

I tell my clients it’s never too late or too soon to start planning
your financial future. I often introduce them to a financial advisor to
help them get started.

It is important to educate yourself. Take stock of your household finances,
your income, your investments and your debts. Take a look at your social
security benefits and what they will be when you retire.

You can use some of the retirement calculators on websites like MsMoney.com
to calculate what you will need to retire.